Evan Desjardins

Chopin Mazurka in C-Sharp Minor Op. 63 No. 3 | Artun Miskciyan, piano

By • July 25, 2021 • 0 Comments

Here is a brilliant home recording by Toronto pianist Artun Miskciyan which I helped him polish up for release.

I met Artun at Blue Sound in 2019. He had some chamber music recordings done at another studio but which needed some fixing up. I was immediately impressed not only by his virtuosity but also his keen ear for fine details in the recordings. He was exacting in his direction but enthusiastic about the process and … Read the rest “Chopin Mazurka in C-Sharp Minor Op. 63 No. 3 | Artun Miskciyan, piano”

New Album Release: Hush About the City – ‘On Making Friends’

By • July 2, 2021 • 0 Comments

I’m so glad to see this album released. Dan Kelsey (Hush About the City) wrote and home-recorded nearly everything from his place in Winnipeg and sent me the tunes to mix late last summer. I helped him realize his vision by reworking some drum and synth sounds, recording a few new instrument parts here and there, editing the many layered vocals and finally mixing and mastering the record for digital release. The only song I … Read the rest “New Album Release: Hush About the City – ‘On Making Friends’”

The Last Butterball

By • April 5, 2021 • 0 Comments
Commercial inanity from a time since past.

It was almost exactly a year ago that I got the call from Syndicate Sound asking if I could come in last minute to record and mix a TV spot for them. This was just after Doug Ford had announced the first impending COVID-19 lockdown but before it would take effect. Reluctantly, I said I would. The next morning I biked to the studio and donned my 3M … Read the rest “The Last Butterball”

‘Crewelwork’ by Justin Torres [Amazon Original Stories]

By • March 17, 2021 • 0 Comments

I enjoyed recording this short memoir by author Justin Torres. Recorded for Brilliance Audio at DB Audio in Toronto.

Excerpt from Crewelwork on Soundcloud

I didn’t do the edit, though. It kind of sounds as if they sped up the read. Is that common? I know many listeners will turn up the playback speed on their devices to whiz through a book if they think they reader is going too slowly. Regardless, I enjoy these … Read the rest “‘Crewelwork’ by Justin Torres [Amazon Original Stories]”

‘Melanin’ by Naranie Tam with Kobena Aquaa-Harrison

By • January 17, 2021 • 0 Comments

I had the pleasure of recording, mixing and mastering this single by Nigerian singer Naranie Tam. She and multi-instrumentalist Kobena Aquaa-Harrison joined me at Blue Sound in Toronto in 2019 and recorded a couple improvised pieces including this one which we later developed, mixed and mastered together.

You can read more about the artist and the music in this lovely writeup on YAWA: https://yawamag.com/melanin-a-welcome-home/

From the article:

My Favorite thing about Melanin is how Naranie’s

… Read the rest “‘Melanin’ by Naranie Tam with Kobena Aquaa-Harrison”

Grace m905 (knob feel review)

By • December 6, 2019 • 0 Comments

… Read the rest “Grace m905 (knob feel review)”

Joe Rogan Voice AI

By • November 4, 2019 • 0 Comments

Earlier this year I collaborated with Toronto software start-up Dessa to produce a text-to-speech model with Joe Rogan‘s voice. Joe thought it was pretty trippy!

Can you tell real from fake? Try the blind test at: https://fakejoerogan.com/

Dessa published a rundown of the process in two parts on Medium:
Part 1:
RealTalk: This Speech Synthesis Model Our Engineers Built Recreates a Human Voice Perfectly
Part 2:
RealTalk (Pt. II): How We Recreated Joe Rogan’s … Read the rest “Joe Rogan Voice AI”

© 2021 Evan Desjardins.